Dragonball Evolution Writer Apologizes to Fans
Ben Ramsey wrote Dragonball Evolution, and he asked me to tell you that he is sorry.
Where did this sudden apology come from, 7 years after the movie’s premiere in 2009?
I contacted Ben to interview him for a book I’m writing titled “USA DBZ.”
The book has a chapter dedicated to telling the untold story behind Dragonball Evolution, which is Hollywood’s live-action adaptation of the series.
Dragonball Evolution is reviled by fans and has a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Fans of anime and pop culture consider it to be the lowest benchmark by which live-action adaptations of anime and comics are compared. When a bad movie comes out, people say, ‘Hey, at least it wasn’t as bad as Dragonball Evolution!’
But where did the idea for Dragonball Evolution come from, who wrote it, what was the original intention, and why was it so disappointing to Dragon Ball fans across the world?
To find out, I asked Ben for an interview.
He replied with an apology.
Ben Ramsey’s Apology
“I knew that it would eventually come down to this one day. Dragonball Evolution marked a very painful creative point in my life. To have something with my name on it as the writer be so globally reviled is gut wrenching. To receive hate mail from all over the world is heartbreaking. I spent so many years trying to deflect the blame, but at the end of the day it all comes down to the written word on page and I take full responsibility for what was such a disappointment to so many fans. I did the best I could, but at the end of the day, I ‘dropped the dragon ball.’
I went into the project chasing after a big payday, not as a fan of the franchise but as a businessman taking on an assignment. I have learned that when you go into a creative endeavor without passion you come out with sub-optimal results, and sometimes flat out garbage. So I’m not blaming anyone for Dragonball but myself. As a fanboy of other series, I know what it’s like to have something you love and anticipate be so disappointing.
To all the Dragon Ball fans out there, I sincerely apologize.
I hope I can make it up to you by creating something really cool and entertaining that you will like and that is also something I am passionate about. That’s the only work I do now.
Best,
Ben.”
Praise for Light of Hope
Ben added, “By the way, Dragon Ball Z: Light of Hope was awesome! Excellent work, Derek. It’s what Dragonball Evolution should have been.”
Dragon Ball Z: Light of Hope is a fan produced live-action adaptation of The History of Trunks, and I am its writer and co-creator.
Dragonball Evolution was filmed with $30 million, and ours with $10 thousand, but ours is loved by fans, while Hollywood’s is not.
It’s nice to see that Ben recognizes that passion and staying true to the source material is what matters most.
If you’re in Hollywood and want to create a new Dragon Ball project, please contact me. I write Dragon Ball books and screenplays, and I have scripts ready for you to read.
Your Response?
What’s your response after reading Ben’s apology?
It’s rare for a Hollywood writer to apologize for a movie. Maybe a particular scene, a controversial conclusion, or some questionable dialogue, but not an entire movie.
Do you accept his apology, or is it too little, too late? Can he ever be forgiven?
If you’d like Ben to hear your reply, then leave your comment below.
This is the best way to reach Ben because after the movie’s release, there was so much hatred railed against him that he stopped accepting email from fans and left social media. If you want Ben to hear what you have to say, or you make a video response online, then share it here.
Thank you, Ben, for the apology, and for trusting me to share it with Dragon Ball fans.
Update May 6: Read the original Dragonball Evolution script that Ben Ramsey submitted to Fox before it was changed by the producers.
Update May 10: Ben Ramsey replies to the fans.
I’m willing to accept the apology. It takes a huge amount of courage to admit that you’re wrong, even if it took 7 years. Some people won’t see it this way, but better late than never. At least he had the guts to be upfront about his mentality during writing and his attempts to deflect blame afterwards.
It sounds like he knew he was wrong after it came out, and was apologizing to people as they spewed their bile at him as well.
“I went into the project chasing after a big payday, not as a fan of the franchise but as a businessman taking on an assignment.”
Be it anime, game development, art, voice acting, music or any other creative field…this is the crux of the problem (as well as gloating about yourself and not promoting/focusing on the work created).
If you go at it this way, expect a shit product. Fans see right through it. One of the saddest things I’ve seen as a voice actor is when I see people doing all of that; promote themselves more than the projects. As a programmer I see this too (as I’m a rather weird combo of the two). It’s not about you the writer, actor, programmer…it’s about the content you create and the characters you make or represent.
I respect the apology since this you don’t see often. In a “look at me” viral marketing age, the urge to promote one’s self is very great in a field that has always had this issue of bloated ego.
Create great works and you will get the fandom towards yourself as a creator as an extra caveat… so focus on the work first.
That’s true, and it opens up a question.
With all due respect to Ben for his previous writing successes with films like The Big Hit, why would Fox choose him over someone who is a fan of the source material? Was there no screenwriter in Hollywood who was a fan of Dragon Ball?
This isn’t the first time Hollywood has made these types of choices, but in this case I’d like to know what they had in mind.
It was after I had written the feature script for Luke Cage. There was a lot of buzz on that script at the time. When you have a hot script around town you tend to have jobs thrown at you. I had gotten “Dragonball” at Fox and “Roses Are Red” at Paramount around the same time. “Roses” would have been the third in the Morgan Freeman Alex Cross series. Unfortunately the project got derailed by a regime change down at Paramount and Luke went into development Hell.
What happened to the Luke Cage script if you don’t mind me asking and also is it true that there was a script for DBE before your script that had characters such as Emperor Pilaf and such but had to be re-scripted because of the script leaking out to internet?
The Luke Cage script has been in development for a long time at Marvel. But I doubt you will see it produced as the TV series is coming out in September, I believe. When I came on the project there was a Dragonball Z script. Some of my early drafts had emperor Pilaf, Mai and Shu. The script leak happened long after the final draft was turned in.
Hey Ben, you’re an awesome guy! Thanks for the honest and open dialogue. I know it must really suck to create something that people hate, but it takes a real man and some stones to come out and apologize for it. I’m glad that people are treating you with respect on here. Rare for most message boards.
Here’s a question for you: what was retained from your drafts, and what was mandated either by the studio or the director?
I’m not at liberty to go into the details. I just wanted to apologize for disappointing so many fans. You guys deserved better.
Fair enough. I won’t pry further. For what it’s worth, as a Dragonball fan, I accept your apology and encourage you not to beat yourself up further.
And for what it’s worth, “The Big Hit” is a lot of fun and super-underrated in my opinion. I’d love to see you write another original fun action film like that.
Thank you for coming out like this Ben. I want to expand on what I said that I wasn’t exactly pointing the “bloated ego” notion at you directly but more so at how the industry goes at it. Many people in the industry don’t own to their mistakes and show such humble gestures. I’ve done projects for the sake of just getting the contract, so I know why sometimes it’s a race to just get the job even when you don’t necessarily know enough of the content manner behind it. Again, thank you for doing this.
Much respect to you in doing so. I hope the MCU green lights the Luke Cage movies, we really need to see more diversity in our cinematic heroes.
I thank you for everything you did! Making and saying Sorry. I saw the movie in the theater. I didn’t love it…. I didn’t hate it. It was an experience with my friends, whatever you wrote down, as bad as some say it is, stuck with me. Thanks for saying sorry, to fans it means alot.
Also, Blood and Bone was great! lol
I see. That makes sense now. It’s a shame that Luke Cage was never made. That could have led the way for a lot of other films to follow. Thanks, Ben!
Maaaaan. I’ve been carrying around such disdain for that movie since it came out. I have been a DB fan since i can remember. And my 3 year old got heavily into the DBZ series. For me it had literally become my 1st point of comparison when seeing a bad flick or failed adaptation. I wanted nothing but the opposite. And then i read this article and realized the failed flick was a mistake not a deliberate ignorance of what DB should be. After hearing your side of it i more so understand now. That feeling of busting your ass to make it doing what you love. Working your way up the success ladder is just that’ alot of hard work. Then having films thrown at you….pssssh you ask anybody that grinds how it feels to have it pay off a few times over. I dont know anyone who wouldnt have made that mistake. Dont beat yourself up too hard Ben. Besides we as a fanbase are so critical when it comes to the films and books we love….you know the saying cant please everyone….well when it comes to this genre….they might as well say your gonna piss ppl off….no matter how good your film is. I would watch another if you were to ever rewrite a DB film.
That answers the question, but it just brings up more! So you are saying that studio execs say to themselves “Hey this guy did a great script for this one thing. Let’s get him to write a script about something different that he doesn’t even like. Smells like gold to me!”
“Hey that Dr. Suess guy is really hot right now with his children’s books. We NEED him to write the 50 shades of grey sequel!”
Does no one else think this is insane?
You are really giving out of touch network executives way too much credit.
Interesting, the writer in person in the comments section!
Mr. Ben Ramsey all I have to say as a true Dragonball fan I accept your apology only because you are the first script writer I have ever met to actually apologize to the whole world that you was wrong that takes serious mentality and guts I give you ultimate respect I hope you continue doing what you’re passionate about. next time I recommend start reading Dragon Ball Manga and the anime version so you can have a clear understanding about Dragonball but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t your fault it was 20th Century Fox fault. Anyway I have a question for you please answer it whenever you get the chance I want to know what happened to Luke Cage I heard it was going to be a movie until it became exclusive only on Netflix as a TV show? And another question what happened to the original Dragonball evolution script you made? Why did 20th Century Fox turn it down? Please I need to know so bad whenever you get the chance don’t let social media Take You Down I am with you all the way best regards.
Programmer and a voice actor… you’re right, very odd combination! Way cool, though, you get two of the most important roles in the development process.
I’m a writer, coder and voice actor for a VN, currently handling all the funding and management out-of-pocket, but I’m gonna end up attributing the voice acting to a fake person. I don’t wanna seem like I’m trying to fill the credits with my name, you know? I’m just my cheapest employee, and experienced in that area. When I finally have a hit on my hands, the only job I’ll cut out is the coding. I don’t speak robot! You guys are geniuses. xD
But yeah, passion is everything. Just as important as a decent resume, since it can improve productivity and quality so much. No passion for the DBZ project meant a skilled screenwriter failed, and now the poor guy’s apologizing for it. I hope Ramsey sees success in the future.
Thanks :) One pitfall of working in these two different fields is running yourself thin and never getting the chance to finish projects (ie: the “try to catch two chickens” problem) I hope the same for Ramsey too. Looking back at my comment I might have been a bit harsh in instantiating about “bloated ego” and “promoting yourself” Coming out like this is showing humblensss that we most of the time don’t see from those in the entertainment industry. As I know from my VA work, there is a subculture that revolves around propping yourself up so you look good enough to get roles/contracts… so I see why sometimes it’s easy for those in the industry to lose focus on the task at hand since many of the methods to even get the chance at a job was governed by lots of self promotion.
@princetrunks:disqus Forgive me for jumping in this conversation. However, I do admire what you just said, here in the first 3 and last sentences.
I wish that there were more people in the business world with your mindset. Too many businesspeople don’t look at the big picture (and from the consumer’s perspective) as you do.
The thing is, you don’t necessarily need to be a fan; and you can very much take an assignment as a businessman wanting/needing a (big) payday What you need is respect for the material you wish/seek/are hired to adapt, so you can remain true to its spirit.
That means doing your research; read/watch/play the original work; and then seeking out fan’s reaction, what they like about it; so you know what you absolutely cannot mess with, and what you can flub in order to fit it in the medium you’re adapting it to.
A fan writer can be just as bad as someone who does not give a shit. A fan writer can be blinded by the original to the point where he cannot make hard decisions and what to drop and modify to fit it to the new medium.
In short; you need someone that respects the original and its fans, but not overly so, and someone who actually cares for the quality of their work regardless of whether or not they care for the original work they are adapting or rewriting.
I believe that everybody deserves a second chances and if he now knows what he did wrong about the movie, maybe he could do some great work in the future.
Well said, Rafael. Ben is now a director and producer, and just recently finished directing Black Salt, a martial arts film based on a popular comic book. So he’s working on projects he’s passionate about.
I understand why Ben did what he did,there was a writer’s strike at the time and the writers that were available were going for the throat with each other just to get a decent paying job writing a script and Ben was looking for his big pay day to most likely live off on till the writer’s strike blew over.
You might be right. It’s a plausible theory, but there were good movies that came out in 2009 as well, so I suspect there’s more to the story. We’ll have to wait and see.
I accept his apology, we are humans after all, I know it’s hard to read bad comments everyday because this is Internet and people judge you, and I’m happy to read this news on thedaoofdragonball.com everybody deserves a second chance, I’m sure you will do a better work after those 7 years.
As a Dragon Ball fan I will like to see a good DB live-action like Dragon Ball : Light of hope
If you really want to make a great DB movie you should read the manga and watch the anime be a part of it, it’s the same thing with the TMNT movie, Michael Bay he started to re-watch the TMNT cartoons and he made a good job, and the same thing with the transformers saga, please do the same.
Anyway may the force be with you !
May the Force be with you, indeed!
You thought Michael Bay did a good job with the Transformers movies?
Well, at least the first one was good and the second watchable. Neither are going to win Oscars, but they’re good popcorn flicks.
Yeah, That what I said …
I am a true Dragonball and Transformers fan and Michael Bay did one hell of a job doing Transformers live action movies all of them was good except for Dark of the Moon that movie pissed me the fuck off Michael Bay fucked up real bad because there wasn’t that much Transformer fights all of the cameras and screen time was mostly about Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky going to college like who gives a fuck if you’re going to college I just want to see Autobots and Decepticons battle each other out unlike age of Extinction that’s when I had to give Michael Bay the ultimate respect when I first saw that movie almost everybody in the theaters including me was clapping applauding screaming at the end I was like this is exactly what I wanted nothing but Autobots and Decepticons fighting each other to the death and especially throwing in Cade Yeager in the mix he was so fucking bad ass way better than Shia LaBeouf he only did good in the first Transformers movie and Revenge of the Fallen unlike Dark of the Moon not so much I can’t wait to see Transformers The Last Knight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqlAuLKkxO0
Definitely. We should give the man a break. He’s being very apologetic and, while he’s definitely a part of what made Dragonball: Evolution bad, he isn’t the entire reason. I think he’s genuinely sorry about the film and has clearly been very humbled by the experience of the backlash… But let’s be real, he wasn’t only to blame. A script changes DRASTICALLY by the time it’s brought to the big screen… So many different hands have touched it and morphed it by the time a script is a full-fledged film so as much as I appreciate him taking full blame for the film’s failure… This was also horribly directed… Didn’t look particularly good, from a cinematography standpoint… No one in the film seems to really care. This was a paycheck film for EVERYONE involved, including the actors, directors and everyone else who worked on it… Dragonball: Evolution is a terrible movie… But not everything should be put on the shoulders of the screenwriter. Like… Name one thing about that movie that didn’t suck… Even Chow-Yun Fat sucked… What!?
Well, at least his work made for a great QuipTrack.
you are forgiven Ben.
This is what the fans need to hear. Not some BS deflection from industry heads or those who aspire to be a bigger part of the Hollywood machine (MAX LANDIS). Admit that you don’t care about the thing we are passionate about. Admit that you are just trying to make a buck, and don’t have the COURAGE to take an intellectual property that means something to people and do it in a way that honors the source material and it’s fans.
As a fan who was thoroughly offended, I accept your apology Ben Ramsey.
Now, with all the future abominations we see coming down the pipe, we wait for the rest of Hollywood to catch up. Not only for the next apology (if at all), but for Hollywood to FINALLY produce something that can be as respectful as it is entertaining.
What did Max Landis do wrong? The only deflection he’s ever made is to make sure people understand that working on a movie is not a cut-and-dry process and that sometimes, industry trends get in the way of things.
If you’re talking about the recent situation with Ghost in the Shell, he never deflected anything; he’s not being apologetic. He specifically mentioned that people should direct their hatred elsewhere. I’ve never worked on a movie but I’m a game designer and I’ve been subject to many situations whereby you were 100% limited by what a superior wants to make because of this or that industry trend. My ex-boyfriend is a concept artist in the same industry as me (been trained and worked in Blizzard Entertainment) and he’s been commissioned specifically to draw characters with certain clothing and certain aesthetics that he 100% did not agree with as an artist and he had no say in the matter.
In fact, certain renditions of popular characters in a specific videogame made by the aforementioned company were things he worked on and no matter how much the artistS (plural) told their director that they really didn’t agree with the artistic vision of the higher-ups who were largely artistically tone-deaf, they ultimately were forced to leave the character as is and to date, I’ve never seen anyone praise her design beyond “great boobs”.
Either do it or go away, because there’s a whole line of people behind you begging to take your paycheck. And ultimately, food has to appear on the table somehow.
I don’t mean to sound like I’m defending things like Scarlet Johansen in Ghost in the Shell, Dragonball Evolution or any other industry snafu. I’m just saying, things are not as black-and-white as you’d want to believe they are.
“People should direct their hatred elsewhere.”
A vague response meant to stifle the conversation. Where should it be aimed at? The way Landis frames it, anywhere but where it DESERVES to be aimed. At the gutless, spineless, moronic cowards who make the decisions based on 2nd grade thinking. Take Ghost In The Shell as an example
LIKE ASIAN CARTOON.
WANT MAKE MOVIE.
LIKE ASIAN MOVIE STUFF.
CAST LADY STAR.
NO ASIAN LADY STARS.
CAST SCAAAAARLET.
SCARLET SAY YES!
YAY SCARLET!
THROW MONEY AT SCARLET.
THROW MONEY AT MOVIE.
WAIT TO MAKE MONEY.
That’s pretty much all the thought they put into it.
Landis makes the excuse about how only so many people can get your movie made. But Hollywood has proven that if the source material generates excitement and is OWNED by a company with capital, that they will cast whoever they want (Henry Cavill or Tom Holland). Then sometimes it’s not even the property, just the company pushing the property (Guardians Of The Galaxy). They are willing to cast unknowns as stars, and do it all the time. Just not anyone who isn’t white.
So yeah, in this case, it’s VERY black and white. This isn’t like your game developer bureaucracy. These are money men. And it’s quite obvious that they don’t have any clue when it comes to audiences, and have ridiculously stupid (and frankly racist) ideas about what should be approved on top of what direction things they fund should go in.
Apology accepted, besides Blood and Bone made it for it. It wasn;’t all your fault Fox played a role in most of the screw up on Dragon Ball.
Blood and Bone is better than Black Dynamite? I’ll have to watch and see for myself.
Don’t apologize. The entire point of the movie is that it’s an
unapologetic slap in the face to the fans with complete disregard for
the source material. You helped make one of the worst films in Hollywood
history. That takes effort and you should be proud. If it makes you
feel any better, I enjoy watching the movie because it is so bad. You
guys couldn’t have made it worse, so embrace it. That ending with
Piccolo… Wow. I was in stitches. It’s one of my favorite memories
ever. It’s the perfect punchline.
Apology is fine, but why did he do it a she did it? Why leave out important characters? Why make it appear to have been written by someone who never checked it out, and used a brief synposis? an apology explaining his rationale would be the best.
Still got paid though, easy to apologize when the cash is in your pocket.
Now that’s just an unacceptable level of cynicism.
Why it was his exact words he did it for the money. He shit on a beloved franchise because he was to busy caring about a big pay day than making a good movie. Now he has the money he changed his demeanor. He said he doesn’t need to sell out any more now that money isn’t a problem.
You’re forgiven.
It is not easy to admit and then offer a sincere apology. I will accept the apology because it takes a lot to especially write out on social media like this. As for dragonball it is a type of anime which i think will be hard to create into a project that will turn out mind blowing because of the type of anime it is. Goku and dbz characters are not able to be created with american actors and sorry to say but speaking from a fan who grew up in Japan as well as korea and also in the us of a .. it will not work. The only asian anime that has gotten a huge success of transitioning into action film is Transformers! The reason why (the characters were robots) which is why it worked out very well!! ..
Things happen. If you aren’t a hardcore fan of a series, I get that it can be really hard to fully get behind making a movie for it that will appease fans. Apology accepted.
Especially Dragon Ball, because you have to spend a lot of time with the series to understand why it’s so popular. All of the anime, the manga, the movies, the games, the quirks of the fandom, it goes on and on.
Nice apology, and as sincere as I could ever hope for.
If you wanted to make a blockbuster, all you had to do was stay true to the source material.
I agree! The Dragon Ball source material sells itself. Just make it like Akira Toriyama made it, or as close as can be done in an adaptation, and watch the fans throw their money at you.
Chris Sabat even said as much at con panels. And really, you could say that for any franchise. It’s best not to overthink these things.
Apology accepted, man. Keep on striving.
Good, I’m glad he took responsibility for that terrible movie. Perhaps he can stop Hollywood from destroying Ghost in the Shell. Seriously, ffs how can makoto not be played by a japanese actress.
Sadly, Ghost in the Shell is not going to be paid off by a fan, and if you present your cast with some obscure actress nobody’s ever heard of in the big west, odds are investors are not going to bother.
I know this is a difficult thing to swallow and it sounds like a cop-out. But it’s not. It’s the reality of the situation and it’s exactly why there are famous actors at all in general: Because names sell.
If acting in big budget movies was equivalent to how many talented actors there are in the world, there’s a big chance you wouldn’t see the same actor more than twice your entire life.
PS: Let’s not get into hyperbolae just yet. Scarlett’s not a horrible actress and the character’s race changing is not going to make it a bad movie; just a slightly inaccurate one. Makoto was not defined by her japanese lineage. The lead actress’s race not being the same as the character is the least of that movie’s possible screw-ups, so don’t get all offended just yet.
sharknado was better than dragonball evolution
Hahaha. I haven’t seen Sharknado yet, but that is a bold statement. I might have to give it a try and see if you’re right.
ive never seen it actually. but at least it was made to be laughed at.
I don’t think Ben should totally be blaming himself. Like all screenwriters they are writing the blueprint for what the movie will eventually become. These are guesses because i am an aspiring indie producer but Ben wrote the script and a studio/or producer green lit it. I’m sure a director read over what Ben wrote and may or may not have changed anything but he also approved of the final version. The studio released it and it bombed with the fans. I saw the movie before I went to film school and I hated it. Now after school I’m sure that I would hate it even more. Overall Ben was not the only person that dropped the Ball. lol That script went into many hands during the creative process. Trying to translate an anime to live action seems hard but I also watched the light of hope and it was way better than evolution so we know it can be done with the right creative team. I accept your apology Ben but you should now know what not to do when venturing into this again. I would love to pick your brain about industry questions as I am trying to be a great indie Producer and I know I could learn alot from you. Maybe work together one day. Thank you. Sincerely,
Charles H Wonsey My email is [email protected] if you would consider talking to me about the industry, ect.
Honestly, if it wasn’t for this guy, we wouldn’t have had Battle of Gods or Resurrection F.
Toriyama only rebooted Dragon Ball because Evolution offended him personally. He made the animated films to show how DBZ should be done.
So I say THANKS, and best of luck~!
Those movies sucked ass bro, akira tori yams is the new George lucas
I do accept his apology as it takes a lot of bravery to do it. Now if only we could get Shyamalan to apologize for the same crap he pulled with Avatar: The Last Airbender. And honestly if I had to choose between The Last Airbender and Dragonball Evolution, I’d go DE every time.
Funny thing is, i liked both movies. :P
Sad part is that “Airbender” didn’t even just fail to render the franchise right; it failed at basic filmmaking and story-telling. I had figured someone like Shyamalan would know better than to make the mistakes he made in that film, but apparently not. Even basic framing of shots I thought “Even I know better than that and I’ve never made a film!”
Apology accepted, this is a manly thing to do, respect to you Mr. Ben
As the force awakens stated… “This will begin to make things right”
i think we will have something similar in the future for the new Ghostbusters movie
I accept your apology, Ben. I hope your current and future endeavors are fruitful. =)
I dunno. I accept his apology because he was man enough to give us one but the writing wasn’t the only problem. The special effects, costumes, actors, directing, every damn thing was terrible. We deserve an apology from all those people as well. I don’t want Ramsey receiving hate mail for the rest of his life, that needs to stop. One bad decision shouldn’t define us. However, what I’m still bitter about is the fact the movie was SO BAD it probably ruined any chance of ever getting a proper Live Action DBZ film made. Dragon Ball Super has been entertaining, so that makes up for a lot.
The apology is accepted by me.
Because this part specifically, “I went into the project chasing after a big payday, not as a fan of the franchise but as a businessman taking on an assignment.” is what allows me to forgive him not many Hollywood to own up and apologize for their mistakes and he admitted that as a fan of other series he understands the feeling of being let down. However, I also blame Fox rarely have I seen them care about a project as big like Dragon Ball without only being concerned for money as well.
I personally don’t think he needs to apologize for ‘Dragon Ball Evolution’ because unlike some DBZ fans, I didn’t actually hate that movie. I realize that’s an unpopular thing to say, but, I don’t care. The film was universally panned BEFORE it ever came out into a theater so fans went into it hating it before there was ever anything to hate. So, at the starting gate, the film was going to be hated by fans regardless of what it really was. I had such low expectations going in I walked out genuinely surprised at what I saw. And what I saw wasn’t all that bad. I did a video on the subject many years ago and still hold to that. Is it a good movie? Not really. But is it really that bad? No. I wouldn’t say that either.
I have recently watched every single episode, movie, OVA, and everything else regarding dragonball (from the original 80s series up to Battle of Gods). I’m yet to see Evolution but I have heard what everyone has echoed. I find this apology refreshing. Kudos to Ben for manning up and accepting responsibility. When money is the sole motivation for the project, you cannot waltz through with an acceptable finished product if there’s been an absence of passion. The only thing I can think for contrition/rectification is for Ben to use his resources as a writer to connect someone who *is* passionate about this series with the people that could make something big-budget on the scale of Dragonball Evolution. The series survived that one and will continue on. One day, we’ll see what comes to fruition.
Solid dude. Feel bad for him. Out of curiosity as not really a DB fan and someone who doesn’t remember the movie too well, was it the writing or the directing mainly?
It was everything at once. It just wasn’t ‘Dragon Ball’ as fans know it, nor was it a film that general audiences could enjoy. The real issue is that the director and producer took Ben’s script and then changed it even more. So I don’t feel like Ben deserves most of the blame, but this is what he sent me to post.
He’s not the only one to blame.
The words on the page matter, but there are lost of other people that decide how to bring those words to life.
The producer, director of photography, casting agent, and the director most of all, owe us apologies.
This apology is way, way past it’s due date. I always try to say better late than never, but this almost wasn’t even necessary at this point. This would have been a great thing to read in 2009, 2010, or 2011. It’s 2016, now. We’re at a point and age with this film where it has basically garnered a cult following for its stupidity, and massive amount of quirky spins. There’s definitely a huge camp of fans who maybe had frustration in the beginning, but have now come to accept what this is, and love it for what it is. Which is definitely not a faithful adaption of this story, but something completely other. Sure, plenty of people still have much hate in their eyes for this thing, but what I’m basically saying is a couple of years earlier, and I think this apology could have touched way more people. Hopefully this does mean something to the people who still hold hatred in their hearts, but at the same time it’s not like the state of live action adaptions of anime and video games has gotten much better over the last several years, so speaking on the whole level, the faults with these sorts of projects aren’t just a Ben Ramsey problem, they’re a Hollywood problem. But still, hopefully some people can see a man repenting for his part in a much larger issue going on within cinema and films.
Since Ben may actually read my comment- I want to say two things I definitely think he should hear. The first thing is I laughed at points during the apology. There’s a ridiculous quality to this whole situation for a number of different reasons. I guarantee you I won’t be the only one to laugh, this article has been up for some hours now and I’ve already talked to a number of other people who have done nothing but laugh at this. So I hope he’s not offended, and empathizes with the ridiculousness of the situation, and is aware/accepting of the idea that many fans will see this, laugh their ass off, and move on with their day.
The second thing Ben should hear is that I didn’t laugh at the whole thing. There’s points in the apology that made me stop, and have genuine respect for some of the honest sentiments here. Really, there’s bits in this apology that can really damage a man’s career. It took a really big man to step up and say some of the things that Ben said here. If I ever meet Ben, I would give him a genuine pat on the back for writing this piece for public consumption. I still have no idea to what degree of forgiveness I have for Ben, because once again, I think this is something that just doesn’t even matter anymore, but I do at least have massive respect for this apology. Kudos to you, Ben.
With that, just from my own perspective now, while I didn’t need this apology at all, what so ever, I’m glad I read it. I’m glad something happened again in 2016 that made Dragon Ball Evolution relevant again. I’m glad one writer in Hollywood is coming out, and feeling genuine remorse for writing a script that was meant to mean something to a lot of people, with only dollar signs in his eyes, and no passion. I’m glad, but I also hope that this is a big take away, and hopefully maybe some other heads in Hollywood will see this, and be much more selective and tough when it comes to writers who want to go out and tackle writing a script for a hugely established property like this. As a final thank you to Ben for stepping up to the plate, I think I’ll go out and finally pick up a copy of Dragon Ball Evolution on Blu-ray, since I only own the DVD, and there’s definitely some scenes in that movie worth watching in full 1080p HD on a nice TV.
I am willing to accept the apology. I’m a very forgiving person and while the movie was truly godawful it did have one redeeming quality in the choice of actor for Piccolo. He wasn’t the best choice but he wasn’t the worst either… anyway, if he wants to make it up to the world the only way I see possible is to pull every connection he has, bring in the team responsible for “Light of Hope” and then get Hollywood to green light the true DBZ live action movie.
That is the only way make up for the blunder that was evolution. Furthermore that is the only way to further honor the series and more importantly the fans that have carried its legend on for so long.
Someday maybe Uwe Boll will apologize for his body of video game adaptions..
….somehow I doubt it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT1J65KHX8E
That… was amazing.
I think the modern twists on the movie were not bad. Even the premise behind it was not bad. I liked the first part of the film before the attack that kills Gohan. Even parts leading up to the introduction of Roshi was not bad. After that though, the entire movie started to fall apart. Bulma and Chi-chi felt like competing love interests at times, but not always. New characters were introduced in an attempt to quickly rush things when it wasn’t really necessary. Plot twists were randomly thrown in for what should have been a straightforward Hero’s Journey.
Apology… Accepted, I suppose, but I don’t feel it’s entirely warranted.
I highly doubt Mr. Ramsey was the only one making decisions in the making of the film. I feel that, partially, Mr. Ramsey has taken it upon himself to spearhead the apology and take the brunt of it. Which is very admirable and I am genuinely touched.
However, let’s not all get ahead of ourselves. Big budget movies, videogames and anime are not made by one person.
We forgive you. Hopefully this lights the way so future screenwriters and others in the entertainment business won’t make a similar mistake.
I blame the studio more than Ben Ramsey.
Apology accepted. Everyone makes mistakes, not everyone owns up to them.
When I saw Dragonball Evolution I thought it was a silly movie but I didn’t flat out hate it. Then I started thinking about it more and the more I thought about it the more I reviled it. A lot of the things that made it really terrible weren’t related to the screenplay though. There couldn’t have been a worse pick for Goku than Justin Chatwin.
Justin Chatwin is a terrible actor. Whoever cast him is also partly to blame for the atrocity of “Dragonball Evolution”. He did not fit Goku at all, his acting was not Goku at all – him and Goku are like oil and water, lego brick and foot, orange and toothpaste. Literally anyone else as Goku makes more sense than Justin Chatwin. Morgan Freeman, Peter Dinklage, Keira Knightley, Adam Sandler… okay, maybe that guy would be worse.
But you are apologizing for the screenplay, which is itself riddled with a lot of holes. Mai as the ninja servant of Piccolo? That was weird. Her costume was weird. She had an opening for her cleavage for some reason. That was weird. That might not be screenplay related, unless you wrote “Mai enters scene, boob window on her costume being the first thing every guy notices”.
So you went about the screenplay like it was a business job? You were not the only one. I think everyone who directly participated in Dragonball Evolution went about it as ordinary business – there was no heart put into it at all.
There is a silver lining! I think the movie’s overall terribleness motivated Akira Toriyama to come up with new and better stories of Dragonball. I think he even said so in an interview. The result was Battle of Gods (a stellar movie) and Resurrection F (which was more inspired by a song by Maximum the Hormone) and Dragon Ball Super. Dragon Ball is not dead, you did not kill Dragon Ball, in fact, if anything you were like a shock of electricity. Electrical shocks hurt and are generally bad, but they are used on people dying from their heart giving them the finger. It smacks it back in line (as long as it wasn’t asystole) and hopefully their brain didn’t die.
But it wasn’t even like that – Dragon Ball was not moribund at the time of Dragonball Evolution. There were indications it might continue – with Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! coming out in 2008 (before Dragonball Evolution). The videogames remained ever popular and Dragon Ball Kai was doing well.
Also according to Wikipedia you wrote five or six drafts for the movie, the movie was in production since 2002 (development hell can really kill the spirit of any creative work), and ultimately the final draft of the screenplay was written by James Wong. It is he who should apologize!
But as a long time Dragon Ball fan, I accept your apology. I don’t think it caused harm to the Dragon Ball series – the reverse may be true – it helped make it better. Now Dragon Ball Super is airing in Japan and I am chomping at the bit for next week’s episode. I try to catch a livestream or raw on Saturdays (timezones are epic) and a fan speed sub on Sundays and then read the discussion on Kanzenshuu during the week.
Light of Hope is awesome. Some of the things fans will do for their love of the series are astonishing. Here is my advice to you, as a successful unemployed college graduate and professional son who lives with his mom almost to the age of 30 (I have an excuse though – she is ailing, I’m taking care of her when no one else will) who has yet to find a job in his field of study and is considering going back to school for something completely unrelated to that field of study: If you are asked to write a screenplay that is derived from a work that has a fanbase of any sort, immerse yourself into it – if you find you cannot enjoy it like a fan yourself, refuse to do the screenplay. But if you feel attracted to the show, if you feel inspired by it, build on that.
Ramsey pretty much nailed the crux of the problem, so I have nothing more to add except to remind everyone that it takes more than a writer to make a bad film. I’d blame the producers and of course the director, both of whom have ultimate say in the people they hire and script approval. A far more skilled and capable director might have even salvaged the project; I wonder what Cameron would have done with it.
I’m sad they didn’t get Stephen Chow. He’d have been perfect to direct.
Stephen Chow chose not to direct it because he didn’t want to direct somebody else’s intellectual property (Akira Toriyama’s). But he’s a big Dragon Ball fan, so he stayed on as a producer and consultant. Unfortunately, Fox chose to ignore his advice, so he left the project. His name is still in the credits as a producer.
I have a better idea for you, rather than apologize fix the problem, make the movie better like you know you can… This time create it from the fans perspective, not as an “assigned project” or “Payday” but fix it because you care
I accept his apology. “To err is human” and I’m sure whatever he writes next will erase the shame of DBE.
Good on him, I’m happy with the apology and happy I found out about Light of Hope!
When this movie dropped in the theater’s, friends of mine said I am considered the lucky few to not waste money on it. And after a year when i finally watched it i knew why. I grew up on DBZ when it was going hard on Toonami, and couldn’t get enough of it. So of course someone like me would have tremendous hate towards the people who made such a disaster. But its been 7 years. If you came out with an apology even 2 years after i would have forgiven you then. As much as it was a waste of time and money, its just a movie in the end.
But sincerely Ben! I accept your apology and the amount of courage it took to let it out. Everyone deserves a second chance. And this may sound ludicrous but i do not see a reason why you cant be given a second chance at attempting another go at this movie. You now know what to never do again, and you have an entire world at your feet waiting to be put on screen in a live action format. Hell you even have the creator for The Light of Hope ready to be at your side to make a 10 thousand dollar budget YouTube video into a something fucking remarkable. Not to mention the article that prints: “What dug his grave, dug him out”
I vote Ben Ramsey for take 2 on DBZ Live!
#BenRamseyForDBZLiveTake2
I try to look at DBE more as a separate entity. A standalone film based on an original source material. An “adaptation” if you will. They tried to modernize it and make it more relatable to non fans of db and gain a new audience. I don’t believe the end intention was to b faithful to the source material. The best for fans they could do was give us familiar names in this new environment. Just think of if as an alternate story line if dbz existed in another dimension lol
i liked the first one
I was never mad about Evolution, not even when I saw it the first time. I personally believe that the Dragon Ball franchise is not particularly suitable for live-action adaptations, although some of them worked better than others. Light of Hope was amazing, but the main reason why it worked so much is because it deals with the least fantasized arc of the entire franchise. History of Trunks is kind of a science fiction story with some traces of Dragon Ball in it. It belongs to the realms of manga and anime, not live-action movies.
As for the apology, I don’t accept it because I was never offended in the first place. When the first photos, teasers and trailers came out, I already knew that the movie was going to be a derailment. The only reason I watched was to see how much of a derailment it was, not because I was expecting something remotely acceptable in the middle of something that I knew it was going to be atrocious to begin with. There is no disappointment without expectation. Who seriously believed that Evolution was going to work? I certanly didn’t. I was so busy laughing that I didn’t even had the time to be pissed of. And like I said, I had no reasons to. Dragon Ball Evolution was a failed attempt, a one time shot, belongs to the past. I’m only reminded of it when I see these kind of articles about it.
To conclude, here you have a hardcore Dragon Ball fan who doesn’t give a crap about what happened, Ben. In the end it was not your fault. You were pretty much set up to fail. I’m going to assume that you don’t know much about the franchise. If that’s the case, it’s still not your fault because the people in charge were not fans either, otherwise they would’ve rejected the script in the first place. Those were the ones responsable for green-lit the movie. Those were the responsables for everything. They were the ones who should’ve known this franchise better than anyone else. Not you Ben.
…who?
It was just a cheesy kung fu movie. That happened to share names with Dragon Ball characters.
A good live action adaptation of anything with supernatural powers of any kind has a 110% chance of being bad, this is just a fact.
i dont think any white or african director or writer should ever do dragonball or anything anime or asian related. they just dont understand the essence of asian in dragonball. its not their background.
the movie was directed and helmed by an asian guy though. I doupt race makes a difference.
he was either probably too americanized or nerded out then because any reasonable fool would know how to cast db. goku is asian. people, god damnit. the whole cast should be. forgot how they cartoon characters look, all the characters are asian. apologies are usually too late, but its better than nothing at this point.
Almost all characters with the exception of non japanese asians look white actually. Japan has itself to blame in my opinion for both handing the rights of their manga to hollywood for money and for its own white washing of its cartoons. I don’t see chinese or korean cartoons and mahua/manwa doing this so don’t tell me its cultural.
lets not pretend hollywood is blind to race though. far from it. the asian director probably pressured like crazy to fuck up the cast.
you don’t know this of course. And compared to most cinema outside the US hollywood is a saint when it comes to diversity.
again, you’re doing what a typical white person would do, which is ignore the essence of those characters, you can’t blame japan people they don’t know any better, the characters are asian, there is no such thing as a dragon or buddhist marks on white people, white characters don’t eat with rice bowls and chopsticks, and the way they act are asian, and the lifestyle is non western. cinema outside, but that’s different because other cinemas aren’t the mixed place america is, and people aren’t being misrepresented…i’m pretty sure if other races were complaining in other countries they weren’t being fairly rep they would take action right away, unlike hwood, its 2 decades late, and hwood is just starting to make the minutest of changes.
except i’m not white so whats your excuse now?
well to be honest, i dont really care about what race you are or about this movie, what i care about more is that its really about time other races besides white and african, are shown in hwood, and in commercials, because we matter.
I’m from the most diverse country on earth Brazil so yeah i have a right to talk about diversity. And the fact remains that hollywood while it could still be more diverse is still a saint when it comes to showing other races of people compared to say chinese or japanese cinema. Hell even more multicultural diverse Asian nations such as India and Singapore are severely lacking in diversity in their films.
true but those countries like japan/china don’t have a diverse crowd so there’s no point to, where as america poses as a melting pot and should if they want to label themselves as diverse. basically hollywood movies get seen, and spread worldwide, as like the basic channel where images are most universal or popular, not films from other countries. foreign film rarely gets seen. america is the leader of the world at the moment, consuming the most as well.
as diverse as it is the US still has a small Asian community compared to say here in Brazil.
I wasn’t aware the US had a large enough Asian population regardless of its diversity.
welcome to the era of globalization. Ive seen white black latino and arab people with dragon tatoo’s and who eat rice using chopsticks.
Actually Asian cinema is one of the least diverse cinemas on the planet. And its not cause there are no non asians in asia. Again there is large minorities just like in the west. They choose not to cause they like things traditional in their movies. And though Hollywood could do better when it comes to diversity its a saint compared to Asian cinema.
I too accept the apology, but blaming one guy seems off to me. There was plenty of people who had no idea wtf they were doing on it. Goku in Highschool was anathema.
Apology not accepted. I don’t care how sorry he is. He went in, not even a fan; thinking purely about money. He got his pay day, and we all saw a beloved franchise dragged through the mud. As the writer he had the power to do it right, and chose the cheap way out. CREATIVITY IS HIS CAREER and he just signs off on his work to cash a check?! DBZ deserved better, Anime deserved better, and the fans deserved better.
All I have left to say is Marvel Fans watch out. This guy is writing your Luke Cage film.
I like some of the things in the movie I just needed more martial arts longers fights not all his fault some good ideas in it
I will put into the mix. That Light of Hope thing … It is not all that great. It is better in the sense of the Effects but the Acting falls flat and feel forced. The Fights and effects are ok … but is is not all that good.
Praise for Light of Hope just watched it, awesome job everyone can’t wait to see the rest of them
Hey Ben. You’re brave for admitting you were wrong. We’ve all messed up at some point in our lives. You just had the courage to face up to that fact. I’ll admit, Dragon Ball Z means a lot to me. It may sound silly, but when I was a kid I looked up to Goku. So, to see DBZ handled so poorly in Evolution really saddened me… But I forgive you. You can use that as a lesson and make great movies. God bless you Ben!
Thank you Alex. I hope one day that the Dragonball movie that the fans have been waiting for get made.
Question is…. will you make that dragon ball movie we truely crave?
It could be a great redemption movie and we can forget that other adaptation even existed… look upon it and say… meh… that was like that green lantern movie but then… DEAD POOL!
If you never watched the show or only bits of it, please watch it and you will see why it not only affects kids but even older generations who watched it since it released..
Then if you can draw your own creation from that ( or seek advice directly from the creator of db ) you can win back the hearts and minds of Dragon Ball fans both old and new…
1 small advice for db if you plan a reboot….. Don’t forget to add Krillin :)
You’re a good man, Ben. Thank you.
Apology accepted, your turn M.Night Shyamalan
You know what? Apology accepted, takes a big man to own up to his own mistakes. The fact that he claims to know our pain makes me think he’s probably an Avatar: The Last Airbender fan. I can’t think of any other live action adaptation that is as awful and reviled as Dragonball Evolution.
“I went into the project chasing after a big payday, not as a fan of the franchise but as a businessman taking on an assignment.”
Never have I had such hate for a person in my whole life. DBZ was my childhood, I actually cried in the movie theatre seeing this. I never felt so shat on in my entire life. I felt so blindsided, that something that helped me cope with being in and out of the hospital all the time as a kid and gave me hope got ripped apart and purposely made as garbage just for money…
How can an apology be accepted SO LONG AFTER THE FACT when you purposely shat on your source material for money?!
You don’t care, you only feel remorse because you want to save face.
I’m in a game development company, and we’re doing our very best to balance our creations to meet our bottom line and still keep to the spirit and lore of the titles we make. However, Hollywood has yet to still learn that lesson with all these “adaptations” they’re doing left and right. You might want to direct your rage at the very institution that allows for this to happen on a wholesale.
I also grew up to Dragonball, so I truly know your rage. Ben’s seeking amends for a past he regrets. He’s owing up to the role he took part in creating the garbage whilst other people involve would just shift the blame to any other aspect of film making and business.
If you still want to point a pitchfork, I can help point you to the right direction. :)
Never have you hated a person so much in your life? Are you insane? He didn’t rob pensions, oppress people, or kill children. He wrote a bad screenplay for money. Try hating truly evil people instead. Try hating truly bad things happening in the world. You may grow up in the process. Try a bit of forgiveness and compassion, especially for a guy who committed no REAL crime against ANY of us. Learn some humility, because you obviously didn’t while you were “in and out of the hospital”. There are far worse things and there are people who have it way worse than just sitting through a bad movie. You proclaim to love DBZ and yet you picked up on all of none of the themes in the anime, series or even the movie. Would your hero Goku or any of the characters react in such a petty, spiteful way? You should be ashamed of yourself. But for what it’s worth, when you realize how wrong and childish you are, I’ll believe your apology and not be so cynical as to think you were merely trying to “save face.”
It takes a lot of Strength to go online (where anonymity turns most people into insufferable a**holes) and apologize for this movie. He definitely deserves a good amount of respect for this. I hope his next movie has less interference from the suits and such.
I know how it was going to turn out, so I didn’t watch it, thus to me I personally feel he has nothing to apologize for to me as a fan of the series anyway. Honestly, I’m happy to know that his life is changing and he’s starting to get further along with his career after reading some of his comments. I hope beyond hope things only get better and better for him, as people deserve that in the end if they put in EFFORT! :)
this is similar to schumacher apologizing for batman & robin
Cool. he gets it… he owns his mistake. Good for him.
For a movie gone this bad – there are a lot more issues than the script – director/producer/studio .. all have their part to blame. So Ben, apology accepted.
You know….I am REALLY disappointed by your actions. You thought about the money before your love for the show. That’s not something any person that’s a fan of anything should do. But alas, years have passed and to this day…I still hate Evolution with a passion. HOWEVER. That hate has been driven towards another live-action adaptation regarding a certain popular series about regular people slaying giant human monsters. *cough cough* Attack on Titan *cough cough* oh sorry where was I?
Oh yes…
While I did like that you confessed to the fans about your major screw up, I will say…I am impressed. Sure it should’ve been said a while back but better late than never. So with that said…I will actually forgive you if you TRULY believe that your actions as a writer for the disaster that was Evolution was wrong. I sincerely hope that the hate-mail rate decreases rapidly now because now you have learned the lesson in humility. And with that, I hope you can make a comeback.
I liked the movie..people just like to complain is all. At least he tried it. He didn’t have to apologize in my opinion. He doesn’t need to.
I accept the apology.. I actually kind of liked the movie for what it was 7 years ago was different in movie industry… Now you can pay us back by making a better version of maybe z do like the sayain saga in one movie or something with good cgi and better actors and make up could be a sweet movie… I dont like the fact that such a few short years after the movie goku started selling meth though lol
I don’t think he deserves all or even most of the blame. It’s very clear 20th Century Fox didn’t take the project seriously, and was only in it for a cheap cash-in. I’m aware filmmaking is a business, but that’s no excuse to put so little effort into something. When that happens, the whole project suffers. It’s a shame because there was so much wasted potential with a Dragon Ball movie franchise. I’m glad Ben has owned up to his mistakes, and I think it’s long time to move on anyway.
With that said, I don’t hate Evolution as much as others. It’s a shitty movie no question, but it’s oddly entertaining if you watch it as “Dragon Ball” in name only. It’s very cringe-worthy, but far from dull like “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li.” I think it’s very well-cast too, sans Justin Chatwin as Goku. It was also oddly cool to see Agent Mai as such a badass, considering she had more of a minor role in the original series.
As a Dragonball fan, I accept Ben’s apology.
But what I do question is why he thinks he’s the only one at fault, when there are many other people involved that greenlit the trainwreck that has more power/authority on how the creative process got made. You know, the people higher-up who allowed it to happen at all?
If Ben could have written a faithful adaptation to Dragonball, there’s the Produces, Executives, and Director (or highly-paid actors) that can still gum up the works by altering things which they would think to not fit their cashflow/timeline/idea/role in the film. (case in point: The Last Airbender)
I have much respect for Ben for doing this, but he was never the center of my hate for Dragonball Evolution (20th Century Fox, is). it takes serious professional balls to own up on a creative mistake, I do not wish to see this man’s career burn into flames.
I actually want to see something of Ben’s that he’s passionate about and look forward to that on the big screen.
I realize I’m going to sound pretty contrary to the general opinion, but eh, I’m used to that. The fact is, I actually did kind of enjoy Dragonball Evolution. It was different, sure, and I can see how a lot of people didn’t like it (When I went to see it, there were only six people in the theater, myself included.), but I don’t think it was necessarily a bad movie in and of itself. It wasn’t the best as a Dragon Ball adaptation, to be sure. There were a lot of changes, like High School Goku, and the bit about just what Oozaru was was a bit confusing, but I liked the characters. I could tell who each of them was supposed to be. Roshi was certainly a pervert as always, and I loved Goku walking around with a big turkey leg. I also enjoyed the action scenes, cheap special effects and all. I’ll admit that as a whole, I can’t say that it was a “good” movie, though that was the fault of more than just the writer, but I don’t think the movie earned the vitriol that came to it, nor do I think Ben Ramsey deserves the vitriol that came his way. As far as I’m concerned, he doesn’t have any need to apologize to me. Like I said, I enjoyed the movie. That said, it sounds like he’s learned a lot since then about what it means to be a writer, and personally I’ll look forward to seeing what else he might have in the works.
I want to see him put the pashion that is clearly in this article on the screen if a remake. I feel like his dedication would be translates to the screen with a roaring vengence and clear genuine dedication.
You should return to social media, email, and the screen. The people who sent you hate mail gave never even gone as far as to fail at trying for anything more then heating their ramen for the proper amount of time. Screw them, screw your past mistakes, and screw what happened out of all of it.
These people are the definition of nerd rage. And if you want inspiration watch Ben aflecs(spell check) interview about Batman vs Superman. Know what he is doing about it? Writing the next script.
Put your head up, ignore the nerds, focus yourself, and make this all bring you to the most passionate ass kicking film script to hit whatever year you make it hit.
I don’t accept you apology, I accept that you have clearly grown stronger from it and besides Ben, it’s not like your mistake killed anyone, that’s the type of mistake some people gave to live with. Do your thing Ben! 9000 ain’t got nothing on the power and the capabilities you possess. I’ll buy that ticket.
I thought the casting was bad but as a fan of the franchise I found nothing wrong with the writing.
I took my little brother to see this movie in theaters the day it came out, and to be completely honest, I still watch it. I will admit, Dragon Ball Evolution was not in any way the movie I expected as a long time fan of Dragon Ball, but its one of those things where even though it was bad I still enjoyed it. It reminded me a lot of how corny Power Rangers is, and honestly I don’t think it was Ben Ramseys fault as a writer that made it a bad movie and he shouldn’t really have to apologize for it. DBE was a perfect storm of things that made it a bad movie. I’m sure that the director, some acting choices, studio choices, and things like that changed the script and molded it into what it turned out to be.
The CGI was horrible, the Fulum were as useful as Puddys in Power Rangers, Yamcha chewed up the screen every time he was on, Goku was just unlikeable in every way possible, Goku was in school, Goku learned the Kamehameha through the power of boners, The Kamehameha healed people, was an “airbending technique”, Piccolo killed Gohan, Mai worked for Piccolo instead of Pilaf, and so on and so forth.
In the end, while being a horrible movie and, I somehow still get enjoyment out of it. So, please, just let Ben Ramsey know that at least some of us do have fun with the movie even though we have our complaints and can understand that the blame shouldn’t be carried on his shoulders alone, that it was just a perfect storm of decisions that failed to please the mass audience.
On one side you have this guy, who actually has the balls(no pun intended) to come out an apologize for a mistake and i really like that. He knows what he did wrong and openly admits it.
And on the other hand, you have shitheads like Shyamalan who goes and blames the viewers for not understanding his work. And this for an adaption of a show he obviously didn’t understand or watch. This guy here has my respect for that. He made one blunder but hey, we all fuck up sometimes.
Thank you all for your kind words. You guys rock. I sincerely hope that you will all get the Dragonball movie you deserve. A movie made with love and passion for the universe.
I wonder , What took 30 Million $ to make in DB Evolution ? When I was younger I actually liked it because it was Dragon Ball Z related but still you know… It wasn’t the same feel like the old good dbz so how Light of Hope can handle with 10 thousand $
Passion, love, and respect for the source material and its fans.
Apology accepted.
Much respect for being so open about things and I hope you have better success in the future.
But with all due respect, I sincerely hope we never, ever get a live Dragonball movie or tv show.
Because there are certain anime genres that should not be made into live action movies.
Some anime genre’s can make the transition.
But Dragonball?
No.
Period.
And anyone who does make one
does
not
understand
the
core
material.
Regardless of how much lip service they give to loving the source material, it just goes to show a fundamental lack of understanding of what makes the source material great if they do make a live action movie.
It’s a travesty to true fans.
It’s also a sad travesty to creativity and an insult to people with real creativity.
Want to make a great live action movie?
Stop copying other peoples ideas!
It’s worth noting that not everyone feels as vitriolic about the film as many online. it even has a bit of a fan following. People online tend to exxagerate, or act offended over the littlest things. Sorry if you took alot of heat over this.
I was generally in that camp as well. I never hated the movie, and even got some enjoyment out of it. I was seeing DB on the big screen. My thoughts have been all over with it. Not going to say I wasn’t disappointed over certain things. mainly the lack of certain characters. some things like Yamcha and others I thought was handled pretty well.
I also never supported the inaccuracy claims over all. To me the film felt like it WAS accurate, but just not on a technical, shot for shot detail level. Yes, i did feel a lack of passion, but I always felt (and this was from before reading this, though i still feel it could be true of the director and others), that lack of passion had to do with Dragonball itself, not the franchise as a whole. I felt the real passion, the film that the director and other REALLY wanted to make, was Dragonball Z. somethings i heard, and the fact they planned, what was it, 7-9 more films? that apparently they were supposed to be one or two per saga/story arc? almost telling the series unabridged? shows there was some passion there. but the problem is there is SO MUCH backstory to get out of the way. stuff that would take far too much screen time to tell as flashbacks or exposition.
So I saw DBE as a heavy condensing of DB. a rush to get the backstory, the important bits, out of the way to get to the real passion project. its why i felt the movie was accurate, in that where the characters and the world are at the start of DBZ, is where they are at the end of DBE. goku as an adult and serious with chi chi, roshi not being able to be revived by the dragonball anymore, picollo defeated and being taken care of by a human woman. etc. accurate in spirit, hitting the right story beats, etc. and I do truly feel if the sequel had come to pass, the reception would have been much more positive.
In all, I know how hard it is to make films. I always respected filmmakers. and do feel some take more heat then they deserve. and I also respect you putting yourself out there like this. Wish you all the best.
It takes alot of peer pressure to admit you’re wrong yeah, tbh you know what you were doing at the time.
Now we need M. Night to apologize for The Last Air Bender.
We just want a good remake… with the way that all these new movies are coming out with all the technology and the way everything looks there’s no reason that Dragon Ball can’t be outstanding movie one of the best actually
Fair enough. The french dudes that did cell saga , was AMAZING . the above mentioned sucked too cheesy. The french dudes nailed it. They even dis a small part left out I’m the cartoon.it shows trunks and what leads up to his traveling to the future it was amazing. Nailed gokus eating habits. Forget about that one yall are talking about whatever it’s called and get those French dudes to finish what they started
I’d just like to say thank you. Not for the movie, it was fucking horrible, but for apologizing and being upfront about it. Seeing a brother being torn to shreds like this is so painful, so I’m hoping that we can just forgive and hopefully, you’ll use this opportunity to grow. I for one will watch for your next project, and I hope to see you move on to bigger and better things.
Once again, thank you for the apology and it is very much accepted.
I don’t think he should apologies. He was given an impossible task and no one really talks about how hard it would be to adapt Dragon Ball into any kind of big budget movie. So lets go over them.
1. It has to be accessible to it’s target audience, 14-18 year olds males. (No fans do not count here).
2. It has to be self contained.
3. Goku can’t be a under 16 or over 18 and must be white (That’s just hollywood)
These conditions mean it CANNOT be a re-imagining of DBZ. To much preexisting lore, impossible to shorten ANY of the stories to 90 minutes and Goku starts the story married and with a kid (so MINIMUM of 30 in hollywood).
That leaves the original DB series and lets face it, the original Dragon Ball series is REALLY silly and a big budget movie CANNOT be that silly; not in the same year as Harry Potter 6, Watchmen and Star Trek. It had to be serious so no talking turtles, anthropomorphic animals or comedy villains like Pilaf. That leaves the King Piccolo Saga, the eighth ark in the series.
What does all this mean
Goku had to be more relatable to the target audience so high school, romantic interest, not as strong, smarter, and Harry Potter is popular so make him magic instead of an alian.
That’s the entire character of Goku and without that no fan would be happy with the movie. Honestly if they had gone with a more classic “Hero’s Journey” (AKA Star Wars”) but replace Obi-Wan with Krillin (the friend that insights the journey but then dies at the end of the second act) I think it would have been better.
Now I know what your all thinking, and even the article brought it up
“You can make a good Dragon Ball movie just straight up adapting the series as shown by the Light of Hope movie”
You cannot compare a movie made by fans, for fans to a movie that literally cost over 3000 times more especially in the environment that it was released in, remember that the target audience will (on average) only see 7 movies a year and it was released the same year as those listed above as well as Avatar, X-men Origins, Sherlock Holmes, District 9, Friday the 13th and Terminator Salvation, they had to be as accessible as possible.
It wasn’t a good movie but he doesn’t deserve hate comments. Poor guy! I hope he gets better and creates something new and good!
Fuck you
i will sincerely accept the apology of anyone that has the heart and confidence to come clean and tell the truth about there mistakes. Good job Ben! the movie is still bad but i forgive you and id check out your other stuff! keep pushing! more writers need to take from your example of honesty
One deep and honest apology. It takes a helluva lot of courage to recognize one’s mistakes, specially when it involves public media such as a movie and ended up failing so many fans of the movie’s source, so yes, I accept his apology and I wish him the best for his future projects he might be part of.
One thing though, if you don’t know much about a theme or topic you gotta work with, research and talking with people who knows about the theme might be your better allies! It’s impossible to know about everything after all! We are all human, we can all do mistakes and apologize. The important thing is to not do the same mistake twice.
Didn’t know it was written by a black man. I don’t accept his apology because Supurban youth are already an under looked demographic in anime and east Pac culture. He had the opportunity to make a great, lasting impression and prove supurban kids deserve a hero behind the scenes of a remake of one of the world’s most beloved action stories. Instead he “chased a paycheck” and embarrassed us all like a Jiggaboo. No quarter shall be given.
He was humble and showed he was the 1 at fault. For that, I accept his apology and wish him all the best in his future.
People shouldn’t be giving him shit to begin with. The movie was bad, Dragon Ball is still here, move on.
Ben, as a fan of Dragon Ball, I greatly appreciate your apology. It takes a lot of guts to come out and say these things.
I sincerely hope you’ve been able to take the time and digest the full story of Dragon Ball so that you have a deep appreciation for what we all love so that you can vindicate yourself fully with a new film. ?
I truly do accept your apology Ben Ramsey and I really appreciate it. I don’t think people should come down hard on him- it’s not like he was the only member of that production team. Honestly, the rest of the team should apologize as well. And if there is anyone I believe who should really apologize, it’s the Director. He’s the one who directed this team and gave the okay for everything, where is his apology? I’ve Googled it and I see nothing. He couldn’t even humble himself and admit to his huge mistake?
I accept the apology. It can be hard to get a start in Hollywood and I see how that would be a very attractive offer. At the end of the day, for some it will always just be a job. It seems like Ben has at least learned from his mistake, which is a rarity in Hollywood.
7 yeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaars laterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
fock you now… ben !
I feel bad for you Ben, i never watched the movie and i only heard about it.But i’ve never stopped for one second to put myself in your shoes,i never thought how do you feel or the things you’ve gone through after that movie,
… i’m sorry…
To be perfectly honest, I had forgotten that Dragonball evolution was even a thing
This guy shouldn’t have to apologize! Whoever green lit this movie should be the one to apologize for not taking care of the source material and using individuals familiar with the characters and worlds Ben was commissioned to write, kinda like the recent Jem and the Holograms, stick to the source material you fools! I love comic books and cartoons and whenever someone says you should read this anime book, I give it a try and then as I lose interest, pick up a good comic or graphic novel and am satisfied. there is a reason (real) Marvel Studios and DC movies are kicking @$$ and these are not (Last Airbender anyone?)
I guess it is my age (in my 30’s) but I just do not understand the anime obsession, Dragon Ball, Pokemon, Yamagachu (bless you!) I have no idea what the appeal is? The clunky animation, every male character looks similar with a small face, big eyes and spikey hair, the females are the same with ample assets. Everyone yells and blasts energy in pointless battles. It makes me long for the old days of good animation (Anything Warner Bros., like Looney Tunes or Batman the Animated Series), but I understand there is a market for this, I just don’t understand it! But I do think that dragons are cool, I just don’t need the balls…
It’s really awesome to see a screen-writer say, “I take the responsibility and I’m sorry,” rather than bashing executives, the studio, the director, etc. Josh Trank could learn a lesson from this guy. That being said, movies are extremely “team-effort” so I think it’s hard for this guy to accept full responsibility for how sucky that movie was. At any given time the studio could have asked for re-writes, but they wanted to try to cash in on the craze quick with no thought to quality.
Also, at least Dragon Ball Evolution wasn’t Fantastic 4.
I think M. Knight Shamalangadingdong owes us an apology as well for that bs The Last Airbender movie
I had a different first impression of Dragonball Evolution than most Db fans because I watched the movie without knowing what Dragon Ball was so when I watched it I loved it and I still do but when compared to the source material it isn’t what long running fans where looking but DB Evolution is actually what got me into DB and DBZ. I accept you apology, not many writer would say that there writing was wrong. Thanks
i gonna believe in an anime movie, when they were smart enough to be a trailer using the opening from the anime as a way to sell the movie without show anything from the movie…
After reading this, I don’t blame Ben. I blame the guy who hired him.
“Hey, would you be interested in writing us the screenplay for Dragon ball?”
“Dragon who and what, now? Ahh, whatever it is, how much you paying?”
“That’s the attitude I want to hear ‘it’s all about the Benjamin’s’ you’re hired!”
As a writer, I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS. You know when you haven’t executed from a craft perspective: character’s being fleshed out/internal conflicts meshing with external conflicts/and ect. I’ve written stuff for paychecks and my heart wasn’t in the material. I know it when I see it. If you’re really going to apologize then flat out say you did it for the money.
I agree with your points about writing, but he did say what you want him to say. “I went into the project chasing after a big payday, not as a fan of the franchise but as a businessman taking on an assignment.” He then says what he learned from that.
Yo, I missed that. I skimmed the hell out of that.
everyone has their ups and downs. a little advice: before tackling a project, make sure you know exactly what it’s about. ie get to know the series before you start the project
Couldn’t you get the episodes from dragon ball? and dude no sweat I accept your apology.
I’m glad he has apologized, I just want to ask Ben one thing. Has he at least watched an episode of DB/DBZ/DBS/DBGT?
He’s seen DB Evolution. Does that count?
No it really doesn’t. I couldn’t help but laugh after I read this.
I accept the Apology but I wouldn’t even want him to touch dragon ball again.
It’s funny, the movie is so bad that it’s actually good. In the sense that it would seem like a snl sketch of what dragonball is. There’s no hate here, just don’t do it again :p. It’s good you’ve apologized for it, now we can put it under the bridge.
The whole thing was a re-imagening of the Dragonball series and it fell short. The one reimagening that I did like was the location of Master Roshi’s house. Instead of an island it was a lone house surrounded by the creator from a demolished city.
Honestly, I don’t understand all the hate. The guy tried to do something nobody ever has, create the first fricking live action DB film. Sure, it wasn’t what we expected. Can you do better? There have been many youtubers who have made fan-made DB films such as Light of Hope which was way better on a lower budget. However, DB Evolution was based on Dragon Ball not Dragon Ball Z. So when people wanted SSJ and battles in the sky, they didn’t get it. Now here we are, the director of DB Evolution is swallowing his own pride apologizing publicly. I don’t care what anyone says, but this guy deserves some credit for what he has done. I did like some things about DB Evolution. I liked Jamie Chung. I thought Roshi was cool. Bulma was hot too. It almost feels like people are just thankless. Maybe it would have been better if nobody created a DB live action film because of all the critics. I’m a huge DB fan, so much that I’ve memorized all the Daizenshuus, but I’m not gonna bash a guy trying to do hard work.
Good
First of all, sorry for any concordance errors, english is not my native language but I’m sure I’ll make me understand well.
I really wish the real Ben read this, who knows.
First, well, I have to admit, at least you did apologize, this is already a beginning.
I can’t know if you are apologizing for real, or just to save your image as a producer. But, again, at least a “sorry” came and this is already something.
Second, I believe in second chances. We don’t learn without mistakes. But in this case, a simple apologize is not enough. The damage is done, the wound is open, and so, a real apologize would be a repair. And a repair would be a new movie, but one well done, to make the people forget about that piece of shit you made.
Third, don’t do things “just for money”. People doing things “just for money” are one of the reasons for the current world be what it is.
Fourth, when you want to change the color of your house, you call a painter, not a cooker. In same way, if you don’t understand nothing about Dragon Ball, you don’t make a Dragon Ball movie. Go watch Dragon Ball, go learn who Goku REALLY was.
Last but not least, learn from Dragon Ball Light of Hope and Dragon Ball Fall of Men, how things are made. These are the proofs that passion and love are much more important than money. As a older Dragon Ball fan, I felt totally offended, insulted, disrespected by your movie.
What took you so long, Ben??
I hope this is a learning lesson to do your research before jumping on a project. Never jump in blindly for money.
First of all, sorry for any concordance errors, english is not my native language but I’m sure I’ll make me understand well.
I really wish the real Ben read this, who knows.
First, well, I have to admit, at least you did apologize, this is already a beginning.
I can’t know if you are apologizing for real, or just to save your image as a producer. But, again, at least a “sorry” came and this is already something.
Second, I believe in second chances. We don’t learn without mistakes. But in this case, a simple apologize is not enough. The damage is done, the wound is open, and so, a real apologize would be a repair. And a repair would be a new movie, but one well done, to make the people forget about that piece of shit you made.
Third, don’t do things “just for money”. People doing things “just for money” are one of the reasons for the current world be what it is.
Fourth, when you want to change the color of your house, you call a painter, not a cooker. In same way, if you don’t understand nothing about Dragon Ball, you don’t make a Dragon Ball movie. Go watch Dragon Ball, go learn who Goku REALLY was.
Last but not least, learn from Dragon Ball Light of Hope and Dragon Ball Fall of Men, how things are made. These are the proofs that passion and love are much more important than money. As an older Dragon Ball fan, I felt totally offended, insulted, disrespected by your movie.
Apology came too late.
But too late is better than never.
Lesson learned: Do things not for the love of money, but for the love of just doing it.
My comment is being deleted. If you want only favorable opinions, don’t open to comments.
First of all, sorry for any concordance errors, english is not my native language but I’m sure I’ll make me understand well.
I really wish the real Ben read this, who knows.
First, well, I have to admit, at least you did apologize, this is already a beginning.
I can’t know if you are apologizing for real, or just to save your image as a producer. But, again, at least a “sorry” came and this is already something.
Second, I believe in second chances. We don’t learn without mistakes. But in this case, a simple apologize is not enough. The damage is done, the wound is open, and so, a real apologize would be a repair. And a repair would be a new movie, but one well done, to make the people forget about that piece of shit you made.
Third, don’t do things “just for money”. People doing things “just for money” are one of the reasons for the current world be what it is.
Fourth, when you want to change the color of your house, you call a painter, not a cooker. In same way, if you don’t understand nothing about Dragon Ball, you don’t make a Dragon Ball movie. Go watch Dragon Ball, go learn who Goku REALLY was.
Last but not least, learn from Dragon Ball Light of Hope and Dragon Ball Fall of Men, how things are made. These are the proofs that passion and love are much more important than money. As an older Dragon Ball fan, I felt totally offended, insulted, disrespected by your movie.
It’s also good to point out he wasn’t writing in a vacuum. If a studio is dropping thousands of dollars on a project there will be executives and producers and directors and other people wanting you to rewrite this or add that or take away something else. Sometimes the ideas are good, sometimes you end up with an odd mishmash instead of a good story. I can totally see some executive saying, “we need to make this character more relatable, have him go to high school” or something similar.
Ummm, to the author, Goku is a Saiyan, an alien, not Asian. It was the only complaint about the movie that I didn’t agree with, he didn’t have to be Caucasian but he didn’t need to be Asian. But just like Airbender and the rebooted Fantastic 4, I don’t accept apologies if they don’t bother to read the material first.
Brother you was black my nigga really me and my homeboy was thinking who wrote this dragonball e was white and on that crack bro you should have new better you always read the munga before you make movie’s like that my nigga hit me up Cuz @Tywoneyoung at Twitter or Facebook I need to put you on ? bro it my help in the future holla
I accept his apology..i mean..he knows why it was a flop..he didn’t have the passion for it and so it sucked, but he apologized, and that takes guts, courage not the giant sword swinging character
He realised he made a mistake and I respect that.
G’day Ben, I am sure it must be a little late to get a question answered now, but I am wondering did you start to read the manga or watch the Dragon Ball anime following your involvement with this shit movie? Have you become a fan since?
I accept your apology but at the same time, thank you, news of the Dragon Ball Evolution did inspire me to be involved in the fandom once again when I was in my late teens. I brought a copy of Tenkaichi Budokai 3 with limited money I originally saved for a music festival ticket, began re-watching Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z on Cartoon Network, watching Z movies 1-13; began watching anime in general and several years later I am learning Japanese and aspiring to be an English teacher in Japan so shit as that film was it may have altered the course of my life and for that I must thank you.
First of all, sorry for any concordance errors, english is not my native language but I’m sure I’ll make me understand well.
I really wish the real Ben read this, who knows.
First, well, I have to admit, at least you did apologize, this is already a beginning.
I can’t know if you are apologizing for real, or just to save your image as a producer. But, again, at least a “sorry” came and this is already something.
Second, I believe in second chances. We don’t learn without mistakes. But in this case, a simple apologize is not enough. The damage is done, the wound is open, and so, a real apologize would be a repair. And a repair would be a new movie, but one well done, to make the people forget about that piece of shit you made.
Third, don’t do things “just for money”. People doing things “just for money” are one of the reasons for the current world be what it is.
Fourth, when you want to change the color of your house, you call a painter, not a cooker. In same way, if you don’t understand nothing about Dragon Ball, you don’t make a Dragon Ball movie. Go watch Dragon Ball, go learn who Goku REALLY was.
Last but not least, learn from Dragon Ball Light of Hope and Dragon Ball Fall of Men, how things are made. These are the proofs that passion and love are much more important than money. As an older Dragon Ball fan, I felt totally offended, insulted, disrespected by your movie.
Knowing the extremes of fan backlash, I doubt that my anger even compared to what he had to suffer with. As such, I don’t believe I have any right to refuse an apology from him, let alone one this sincere. He’s suffered more than enough I’m sure.
My only grudges regarding this project are solely with the director and the people who defended it when it was released: Jamie Chung claiming that despite changes being made they kept the essence of the characters, other cast members calling themselves fans of the series in interviews and yet insisting that fans would love it for its faithfulness, pretty much anyone who was trying to convince me that they weren’t butchering my favourite series on the big screen.
Hollywood is so full of pride and ego, it takes quite a bit of humility and class to admit a mistake, especially a big one. I applaud him taking responsibility. That shows more class and maturity than 99% of the shot callers, writers, and creative times in Tinsel town. It’s actually refreshing to see someone own up to their mistakes. Though films are collaborative efforts, the writer is the beginning of the process. Their concepts and scripts are either the beginning of greatness or mediocrity. Sure a Director (AND the studio) can ruin a great script, but it seems that this person is taking responsibility for what they themselves did. I say Bravo for the humility and courage to say it publicly.
having his name for ever attached to this mess is punishment enough
apology accepted
I won’t forgive Ben for mutilating Dragon Ball, but Ben deserves some peace. As long as Ben learns from his mistakes, I won’t personally hold any animosity towards him. Well, actually, this stance hasn’t changed since years ago. I know people make mistakes, but I’ve been waiting for that apology for years.
but seriously? whats the point of make an live action adaption movie without researching it???
Derek I do not really blame you.
I feel, people do not trully understand that making a movie is more than having a writer.
Honestly if you take out Dragon Ball name
You get a Sub-par movie
I actually enjoyed it.
I’m a inspiring writer just like any person
Writing is life, you learn from it and grow.
Thank you for not blaming me, because I had nothing to do with writing Dragonball Evolution. That was Ben Ramsey. Ben shared his apology with me and asked me to share it with you on my site.
Oh, well tell ben it’s okay.
To be honest people will complain about anything.
Tell him “I am happy he has learned”
I hope The next time I see his work
I want to feel he has grown as a writer and person.
Thank you Derek for being the mediator.
I appreciate you and ben
I thank both of y’all.
Have a groovy day
Even more angering is that Akira Toriyama, the author of DB said that he offered his help and feedback on the movie but it was arrogantly dismissed… and then they put a guy like this in charge, who doesn’t even care. At least he apologized, that is a huge thing, I guess it is never late to mature.
You are not a really fanboy of DragonBall if you forgive him..
Once the paper is tear down, it will never be perfect again..
This manga / anime have with me since i was a kids.. So much memories.. So much silly things when i replicates goku doing kamehameha..
Then comes DB:E.. Who wrecked all the expectations..
In my poin of view, your DBZ fan-base films gets many antusiasm because the other one is seriously sucks..
IMHO.. No regrets.. Thx..
Apology accepted! Just gotta remember to do the research on adaptations and above all play to the crowd! Even if u have to go against the grain if the chances u take pay off, everyone will be happy.
dude is like all the “artisitc” out of touch writers that make really lazy far-fetched deviances from the source material…he only had one job to do, and he pretty much screwed it up, b/c he wanted to add his “magic” to something that just needed a direct cut and paste
In the words of Owlman. “It doesn’t matter.”
Your apology is accepted,
it’s not entirely your fault, It could be who hired you or just how the franchise is made
when it comes to large anime/manga franchise like Dragon Ball it’d be difficult. Dragon Ball is pretty big and like other manga it has a story that is not meant to be squashed in or stretched out in any significant way, some manga are just designed to be shown an adapted as an episodic franchise rather than films
and should only do films if it is a completely new story of it’s own with still some visible connection to the original in some possible way (for example the introduction of Gogeta and SSJG and different enemies is something new to focus on for DB films) otherwise it may not turn out as good because of how it’s made. Mostly Anime stories are made to be episodic and not made for films (Anime stories can be different from Comic & Cartoon stories) so it’s not your fault, it’s just who hired you thought it could be at least that easy.
When looking at live-action anime it’s a total risk on whether this anime could be shortened or not without making it too different yet not different enough, whether it’s like you start at the roots and climb up and see if there’s a stable branch that can still grow and climb on that without breaking it. Whether the franchise has any points where a lot of room can be filled with new creativity, Live-Action anime is a big risk to take, it takes a lot of thinking to fit it into films.
but gotta say you’ve got total guts admitting your mistakes, you accepted truth, that’s something that should be respected,
Just don’t try to allow money to get the best of passion. Think of the Passion you use as a Passionfruit then think how much value your passion fruit would be, just how much value is just eating some of your passionfruit, if eating it is high value then that big payday may come, so think Passion first and then think about how much your passion could lead in your business.
Right Now DBE is just a stepping stone for any similar movies you ever gonna attempt to write.
we learn and get experienced from our mistakes and failures, we adapt and rethink, “evolutionize” our imagination, our mind.
I hope you get better, there may be something later on that may top your previous writeups
I don’t actually know if DB was just specifically designed to be like how the original’s like tbh
Dragonball Evolution Writer Apologizes to Fans… and promote another shitty live-action dragon ball.
I don’t know i can’t take this guys seriously.
He’s posing like a some 90’s gang star.
Honestly, why do it at all. When you make an adaptation of a popular series, do the research. I accept your apology and I do think you are a nice guy. Honestly, you should’ve looked at the original manga or anime series because no one should make a movie just for money. If you’re still a director, I hope you make better movies
Hello Everyone,
As a budding screenwriter and filmmaker myself, I respect Mr. Ramsey’s apology. At least he has the boldness to accept that he made mistakes, but all the blame doesn’t fall on him as such. From what I hear, studio execs made lots of changes with one of the drafts Ramsey written that FOX made a decision on. That said… thanks for your apology.
I completely understand and accept the apology, and I’d actually like to sincerely thank you, if it wasn’t for this movie Toriyama wouldn’t started working on the new Dragon Ball movies, show and manga.
Sorry for all the trouble the movie has caused you, it’s not really entirely your fault, sometimes people just don’t need to put in a lot of work in making a movie, that’s what happened with this movie, but considering how kind it was to apolgize for the movie, I think you could make a comeback!
No need to apologize,it was a good movie.
It took seven years, that’s far too long, seems far too shallow and hollow to me, let me guess does he have a new project he’s trying to do?
Going at it from a business standpoint, did it not make more sense to create something more true to the original work (thus something that would cater to fans who would bring in profit)? Or how did the process of creating such a different dragon ball world/story go about?
That’s the story I’m trying to tell in my USA DBZ book. There has to be some type of logic behind their decision to veer so far away from the source material. I suspect they didn’t believe it would be profitable.
Ton of respect for him manning up, & being accountable.
I cannot thank Ben enough for finding the honesty to apologize for DB Evolution. It takes a lot of courage to admit fault in his line of work.
People can forgive a lot in a mediocre experience that speaks to their values, so what hurt the most about DB Evolution was the overwhelming impression that the creators just didn’t care. With this apology, Ben has shown otherwise and that he wants to do better.
I can only speak for myself, but I like to think that many would like to apologize in kind to Ben for giving him such a hard time, now knowing how he really viewed and felt about the project as he was working on it.
I was never angry, Ben Ramsey. :) If anything, I wasn’t a fan of DBZ until I watched Evolution. Not because I liked it – but it made me realize that throughout so many years of being forced to watch it when I was babysat, the series was never THAT BAD. The awfulness of your movie made me appreciate what I had. (And was probably responsible for Toriyama continuing the Dragonball franchise. And partially responsible for the sudden boom in internet reviewers, and a stepping stone to big-name Youtube-r careers. And HUGELY responsible for an entire generation hearing about the original franchise and becoming fans and making it more popular now than it was when I was a kid.) DB:E left its mark in fandom history as both a horrid stain AND a clash of purple on a very orange wall – for just as many GOOD things came out of its wake. Apology accepted, and better luck on the next round!
Personally, yes, as a DBZ fan it was pretty atrocious HOWEVER if I had never seen or heard of DBZ, it really wasn’t that bad. I actually got used to it after a few watches. (Pretty sure I’ve seen other terrible movies worse than this.)
Apology accepted. Create something you know of and can really love. That’s how you should do it. Maybe surprise us with something much better? I know I need more DBZ in my life :p
Really good to know I don’t need to hate this movie and all crew anymore, thanks.
Now, waiting for M. Night Shamalalan apology on his horrible adaptation of Avatar: Legend of the Airbender.
Apology accepted.
Lol at the end of the day it’s just a movie and I don’t believe in the whole ‘it ruined my childhood’ crap. You fucked up, now get the fuck back up and create something cool ;).
Apology accepted and I’m really amazed at your courage to admit and apologize. :D
IMO the responsibilities is not only you but rather the whole team.
Unfortunately this movie has caused trauma to not only DragonBall fans but also to the many other Anime fans out there. Whenever there is a Anime live-action adaption by Hollywood, they will think “Oh no, will this end up shit like DBE?” There is this fear.
As a Anime fan here, I would suggest that before doing the actual production do many research or at least watch/read the original source materials. And I do understand that due to the difference in culture, there may be a need to veer away from the source material, but the problem is, if its too different, I won’t say its a adaption anymore and the title should be changed.
So, create something even more awesome that will allow fans out there to forget this movie and move on. :)
thanks for the apology, but I don’t accept it.
We all make mistakes but like as Scar says, ruuun and never return.
An apology is all we ever wanted now we can hope a studio picks it up and tells future writers to stick to source material.
So none of u ever saw the Live action Mario movie? its atleast just as gay.
yeah if he was really sorry he’d donate all the proceeds to the fans who had to put up with this nonsensical piece of human excrement. That’s what it would take! And never, ever touch something sacred as DBZ again, you talentless fool!
I accept his apology. But the obvious fact is that he didn’t read the manga or watch a single episode of any of the different dragon Ball seasons. It’s a good idea to do your research before making a movie or you get dragon Ball evolution.
Ben did read the manga and wrote somewhat canonical content into his original drafts of the script. Unfortunately these scripts were changed by the producers and director. You can read a later draft of his script on my site here: https://thedaoofdragonball.com/blog/news/dragonball-evolution-original-script-discovered/
How can it be cultural appropriation when Goku is an alien
It is a really bad movie, you forgot the famous flying nimbus for one, but it takes a large amount of courage to admit his own mistakes, just a thought, but if you decide to make another dragonball movie, can you make sure it’s the least bit accurate?
Ben Ramsey If your reading this than good I know this is like a year after the blog came out but I just read it I think you should make it better retry start on a clean slate and make a version of the sayian saga and maybe watch the sayian saga again so you can make the best you can because trust me I’m a huge fan of the db franchise and I think your movie wasn’t to bad I thought of it more like a different universe in dragon ball where things are different and that’s how things happened so thank you for listening well even if you are
And please please make sure the producers sticks with the actual stuff because it was not the best dbz movie I’ve seen much better but your drafts got changed from the original I guess
I think 30 million is not nearly enough to make a Dragon Ball movie or movies the bugget has to be larger the fan base is there with the ability to draw more fans in his apologies can be accepted because it’s just a movie but the next time if ever you get the chance to do it again I wouldn’t take anything under 80 million to do this movie
[…] and I take full responsibility for what was such a disappointment to so many fans,” Ramsey told Dao of Dragon Ball in a 2016 interview. Toriyama weighed in on the colossal blunder of the 2009 film as well. In a 2013 interview, the […]
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[…] στόμα όλων. Το 2016, ο σεναριογράφος της ταινίας, Ben Ramsay, ζήτησε ανοιχτά συγγνώμη στους οπαδούς του «Dragon Ball» για αυτό που […]
[…] the bad taste out of everyone’s mouths. In 2016, the film’s screenwriter, Ben Ramsay, openly apologized to “Dragon Ball” fans for what he made. Sequel plans were scrapped and “Dragon […]